Essex MP bids to 'can the cones' in fight to reduce roadworks
Calls for more powers to fine companies when work overruns
An Essex MP wants to give councils more powers to fine companies who overrun when carrying out roadworks.
Mark Francois Is launching a bill in parliament, which he has dubbed 'Can the Cones', which he hopes would make it harder to dig up the highway.
The Rayleigh and Wickford MP spoke out in Parliament recently about the frustration caused to motorists by the seemingly endless growth of roadworks in Essex and elsewhere.
The aim of the Roadworks (Regulation) Bill would be to give local highways authorities much stronger powers to control the granting of permits to anyone who wanted to dig up the highway network, mandate highway authorities to take all practicable steps to “deconflict” roadworks in their areas, whilst also materially increasing the fines for roadworks that overrun.
'One of the great frustrations of modern life'
During his speech in Parliament, Mark said: “One of the great frustrations of modern life is queueing for ages in a line of traffic, inching forwards to get through a set of contra-flow traffic lights at the scene of some roadworks, only to then crawl past a large hole in the ground, heavily coned off, with absolutely no one working on the site, as you finally drive past it."
Mr Francois has cited figures which suggest Essex could be the most 'dug-up' county in the UK.
He is now looking for the Government to support the Bill, or grant a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper.